Worm moon

It’s full moon again! No wonder messy emotions are rife these couple of days. A name like The Worm Moon serves up an extra garnish of queasiness.

This full moon marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities, and we celebrate the reunion with tangyuan which are glutinous rice balls, sometimes filled with sesame or peanut. Its symbolism is the sweetness of reunion and completeness, and the texture of the glutinous rice flour symbolises how human bonds are held together. Not exactly in the stickiness of it, but rather a matter of adherence.

handmade happydappy tangyuans

Hmm. I suddenly feel like eating niangao (new year cake) which is the steamed version of tangyuan and usually orange in colour because of the brown sugar used. We stack them up to symbolise climbing up the career ladder. When freshly steamed, it is yummy to eat it on its own. After two weeks (haha, yes, it lasts that long), it hardens, and we slice it into pieces to fry in between slices of sweet potato and yam. These two hold the niangao together, making it easy for us to grab it with our fingers, as the niangao melts into goo in the boiling hot oil. The yam is slightly saltish, and balances all the rest of the sweetness. No photos yet, I shall try to make them tomorrow or something.

Talking about sweet foods distracts me from the strong waves. So it’s all good now. Yay, force of the full moon has already started to wane. 😀